Akpom is only 16 but has been given pre-season opportunities against Boreham Wood and Stevenage.

He played 15 times for the Under-18s last season despite being a schoolboy and the youngster admits that keeping a close eye on his studies was not easy.

“It was kind of hard actually because I was full-time at London Colney and I had to balance everything,” he told arsenal.com. “My mind was just focused on football to be honest and I was late with homework and coursework - all I wanted to do was play football!